Method of making an elastic welt for full fashioned stockings



Dec. 2, 1952 P. R. NESTLER 2,619,818

METHOD OF MAKING AN ELASTIC WELT FOR FULL FASHIONED STOCKINGS FiledApril 26, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 24 Fu nl.

FiqJZ.

' INVENTbR.

Paul R Nestlerr A 7' TOENEY 1952 P. R. NESTLER 2,619,818

METHOD OF MAKING AN ELASTIC WELT FOR FULL FASHIONED STOCKINGS FiledApril 26, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 39 .fjfillljiifliii. g;

IN VEN TOR.

w j .Fbulfijveszkr BY I 1 117.3 2 77 ,4 7' TOPNE Y Patented Dec. 2, 1952UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE METHOD OF HEARING AN ELASTIC WELT FOR FULLFASHIONED STOCKINGS 1 Claim.

My invention relates to an elastic welt for full fashioned stockings anda method or making the same.

One object of the invention is to produce an improved elastic welt andan improved method of making the same.

A further object is to produce an elastic welt without the use of rubberbands or strands.

A still further object is to produce an elastic welt which is easilymade by merely adjusting or controlling the action or operation of theusual full fashioned knitting machines.

These and other objects are attained by my invention as set forth in thefollowing specification and as illustrated in the accompanying drawingsin which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a stock ing welt illustrating oneembodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is similar to Fig. 1, but showing another embodiment of theinvention.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the welt ofFig. 1 or of Fig. 2 is made.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic, vertical sectional view of the upper portionof a stocking, showing the completed welt.

In carrying out the invention, I first knit a few courses I!) ofordinary loop stitches which, in the finished stocking, constitute thelower edge I2 of the inner wall 14 of the welt. When a sufiicient numberof courses In have been knit, stitches 16, in suitably spaced wales, aretransferred, to the right or to the left, and are locked on adjacentneedles.

Beyond the locked stitches I6, 1 form a large number of courses 18 ofordinary loop stitches, and during the knitting of these courses, thestitches on the needles from which stitches it were transferred aredropped to form ladders 33 which extend from the locked stitches to thevicinity of the other edge of the Welt wall it. It will be noted thatthe band formed by courses (Fig. 3) is relatively narrow and that theportion formed of courses [8 and ladders 38 is relatively long wherebythe ladders extend over the major portion of the inner wall [4 of thewelt. At the end of the ladders 38 I knit another relatively narrow bandformed of courses 26 of ordinary loops, and at the end of this narrowband I knit one or more courses of picot, or other open work lockedstitch which forms a fold line between the inner and outer walls of thewelt.

If it is desired to produce the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the outerwall 24 of the entire welt. This is done by knitting courses 9t,corresponding to the courses 20, looking selected stitches 32,corresponding to the locked stitches l8, knitting courses 3 5corresponding to courses It and, finally, knitting courses 36corresponding to courses H3.

The formation of the ladders 39 imparts to the welt a certain amount ofelasticity in both the transverse and longitudinal directions. While, asshown in the drawings, the ladders are formed in every seventh or eighthWale, it is to be understood that the spacing of the ladders can bevaried according to the degree of elasticity desired. It will be notedthat, in both embodiments, the ladders stop short of the fold line 22,which in the finished stocking constitutes the upper edge of the welt,so that the garters may be engaged with the solid knit upper marginalportions of the welt.

By the invention disclosed no rubber bands or strands are used and thestitches are not enlarged, slackened or loosely formed so that theappearance of the welt i not marred. In fact, the presence of theladders causes the welt to contract somewhat, when not positivelydistended, so that the welt will tend to fit, or accommodate itself to,a smaller leg, while, at the same time it is capable of stretching so asto accommodate itself to a thicker leg.

What I claim is:

The method of knitting a stretchable welt for a full fashioned stocking,which method includes knitting a relatively small number of courses ofplain loop stitches to form a relatively narrow upper marginal portion,transferring stitches from selected wales onto needles in adjacent walesto form locked stitches in said adjacent wales, knitting a relativelylarger number of courses to form the main body portion of a wall of thewelt, dropping the stitches from the needles which correspond to thelocked stitches to produce ladders extending from the bottom edge ofsaid upper marginal portion to the bottom edge of said main bodyportion, and knitting a relatively small number of courses of plainstitches to produce a lower marginal portion between the main bodyportion and the top of the stocking leg.

PAUL R. NESTLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,721,390 Hadfield July 16, 19291,828,533 Hoffmann Oct. 20, 1931 1,929,006 Snader Oct. 3, 1933 2,057,056Quinn Oct. 13, 1936 2,079,738 Herb May 11, 1937 2,225,277 Pons Dec. 17,1940 2,236,248 Moyer Mar. 25, 1941 2,274,812 Smetana Mar, 3, 1942

